How Often Are You Brewing?

[Oneflewover]

I reckon I average one 23l batch every 6 weeks or so. Seems to match the pace, roughly speaking, that I drink them

 

[Drunkula]

Just checked my notes - 2017: 29 times, 2016: 26 times. I really need to sort it out as I've put on tons of weight since homebrewing.

 

[Lawrence22]

11 brews for me last year, I hope to up that a bit this year.

 

[brewhaha]

About once every 6 weeks or so but I'm trying to get a few done in quick succession before baby #2 is due at the end of February. I can see brewing opportunities diminishing after that, at least in the short term!

 

[dad_of_jon]

So if you do not own some kind of chiller at what point do you have to stop brewing during the year as temperature to hot for brewing?

No , you can do a saison.

I brew every 4 weeks if lucky with one fermenter. I am only allowed a certain amount of brew stuff 'out' at any time so I have to wait until my bottles go down the shed before I can brew again. i.e. I'm not allowed an fv & bottles conditioning in the house at the same time

So 20 litres every 4 weeks. I probably drínk 5 litres a week. So I get in commercial additions and stock from, trips to Belgium to make up the shortfall

 

[braziliain]

Not as often as I would like.

I recently ''upgraded" to kegging in cornies and increased my batch size from around 11L up to 20L.

Now I've remembered why I was a small batch brewer. I'm not a massive drinker and it takes me forever to get through a full corny keg!

I need to find some more friends. So I can drain the kegs and get through my great long list of brews I want to try.

 

[marshbrewer]

I've got enough FV's and inkbirds hitched to either a brew fridge or builders trubs and aquarium heaters to have 3 brews either brewing or conditioning at once, providing the ambient temperature in my garage is lower than the required brewing or carbing temp. If it's higher, i.e. in a heatwave, this drops to one brew in the brew fridge at a time.

However, it's rare that I have time to have this much beer on the go, and usually get to brew about every 2-4 weeks.

I am always trying to increase this however!

 

[matt76]

Not as often as I would like.

I recently ''upgraded" to kegging in cornies and increased my batch size from around 11L up to 20L.

Now I've remembered why I was a small batch brewer. I'm not a massive drinker and it takes me forever to get through a full corny keg!

I need to find some more friends. So I can drain the kegs and get through my great long list of brews I want to try.

I'd have thought if you're giving away free beer you'd suddenly have loads of friends!

Me, I'm probably averaging a 10L brew every 2-4 weeks - but having only started around Sept-Oct last year I'm still full of new brewer zeal! Still need to build up my stocks though, I'm too impatient to try the stuff I've made

 

[pvt_ak]

Not as often as I would like.

I recently ''upgraded" to kegging in cornies and increased my batch size from around 11L up to 20L.

Now I've remembered why I was a small batch brewer. I'm not a massive drinker and it takes me forever to get through a full corny keg!

I need to find some more friends. So I can drain the kegs and get through my great long list of brews I want to try.

Post your location ... I’m sure you won’t have that problem for long !

 

[Ajhutch]

Not as often as I would like.

I recently ''upgraded" to kegging in cornies and increased my batch size from around 11L up to 20L.

Now I've remembered why I was a small batch brewer. I'm not a massive drinker and it takes me forever to get through a full corny keg!

I need to find some more friends. So I can drain the kegs and get through my great long list of brews I want to try.

I very much identify with this. A part of me wants to be a small batch brewer so I can try lots of different things and tweak ideas and so forth as well as always having a variety of beer to choose from to drink. But I also want the ability to do 20 litre batches sometimes. I dont really have the space to store two sets of kit so I normally end up brewing bigger batches and getting bored of them before they’re finished.

I think last year I brewed about every 6-8 weeks, rubbish really and I really want to up it this year.

 

[MyQul]

So if you do not own some kind of chiller at what point do you have to stop brewing during the year as temperature to hot for brewing?

It's never too hot to brew in the UK if you use the right yeast. I dont use temp control (even though have a brew bag) From 20C-25C I use nottingham yeast. Anything above that and I break out the kviek

 

[Clint]

Yes...saison! Pitch at high 20's and let it smoke!

 

[Petrolhead]

I’ve never thought too much about it but I’d say once or twice a month. Back in November I had missed a few weeks plus had a party in October and very nearly ran out.

I keep getting tempted by kegging, mainly for parties, but like stocking up the bottles and they are handy for the fridge. I even like bottling, really!

I brew all year around as I have a brew fridge and even want a second one.

As I have a smallish brew shed I have built shelves on part of one wall just deep enough to support a bottle with the kneck sticking out. No pidgin holes just bottles stacked on top of each other. A few verticle supports which also allow me to keep different brews separate. The shelves are angled up to draw and lees into the bottom of the bottle.

Works really well and a few m2 holds 100’s of bottles.

 

[Zephyr259]

9 brews in 2017, just starting out and didn't brew between April and August due to work. 13 brews in 2018 as I got into the swing of things and had a steady 3&3 rota. I'll brew between every hitch, but didn't in October this year due to heat and plenty stock. Sometimes I'll brew twice if I can get the first one brewed and bottled within 2 weeks. I generally do 15 L batches but had a few 23L this year most of which got split in half for a clean and a sour beer.

 

[Cwrw666]

I do a 4 gallon brew every three weeks or so.
Brewing in summer can be difficult, not because of temperatures - our house is a steady 18c or so during the warmer months - but because of damned fruit flies everywhere. In winter I ferment in the airing cupboard, leaving the door ajar to control temperature a bit, and of course no flies!
Keep your bottles in stackable crates - takes up less room than pressure barrels.

 

[DethApostle]

Bottles are certainly a pain as they take up far too much space - does anybody have any ingenious solutions? My stocks are very low following Christmas and I've got a new Grainfather to play with so I'm going to brew at least every other week for the next couple of months.

A canning machine from Malt Miller?
Pricey but it's certainly easier to store cans than it is glass bottles!

I don't have one but it is on the wish list currently... just need to figure out a cheap/re-useable labelling solution too!

Cheers
DA

 

[Norfolk79]

13 brews in 2018. Now only got empty kegs after Christmas and new years', with a 23l brew fermenting.

Better get brewing to get the stocks up

 

[Clint]

Real cheap labelling... Sharpie!

 

[Pavros]

I used to average about 10 brews a year but only managed about 6 last year.

I don't have any temperature control so brew like mad Feb - May/June and Sept-Nov to build up stocks for the summer and Christmas periods. It's bad news if I'm regularly buying beer at the supermarket other than the odd bottle to try something different.

 

[Pavros]

Real cheap labelling... Sharpie!

Or one of those chalk highlighter pens that write on glass and just rub/wash clean